Normally, when the luggage comes out Fisher gets very curious. He sniffs around, probably wondering how long we will be gone this time. This time was different. Fisher would be going with us. I wonder if he knew? Judging by the picture below, I think he did!

We packed the things that we would take with us on the flight. Next, the professional packers would come to pack everything else (whether we wanted it r not). One shipment would be sent by boat and would take about six weeks. Another by air and would take a week or two. This second shipment would be for essentials, the things we needed within the first month or two. A third shipment would be taken to storage where we would not have access until we move back to the states.

Packing all of your belongings and deciding what to take with you on a 3 year move to Germany is an interesting endeavor. We wanted to pack as light as possible and in doing so, we left a lot of furniture behind. What would we need over the next three years? What would fit in the tiny European apartments we heard so much about?

Watching someone else pack your things compels you to think and re-think; will I really need that? No, put it in the storage pile. No wait… In the end, we learned we should have brought more furniture but we didn’t leave anything behind that we could not live without.